h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Shirps, if you enjoyed my Stingray yarn then no doubt you will "love" my review of Doctor Who

It lives at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A545339

Having had plenty of experience of American tv now, I can confirm that most of it is tosh, but more than that, the presentation of it these days is just bloody annoying.
On many channels now, the end credits will be squeezed into the right or left 1/3 of the screen, unreadable, so that they can use the other 2/3 to trail another show(s), often the one that's on next anyway. They'll even trail a show *during* another one. There's a new show on Comedy Central called 'That's My Bush' which is supposed to be a satire on Dubya, and which isn't too bad (but not a patch on 'Spitting Image'). Thing is, it comes on after South Park, and what they do is to use the bottom right hand corner of the screen (where the logo usually is) for a brief trailer after every ad break during S.P. (and there are a lot of them!). Dang. Yes, I know it's coming on next, you told me three times already . There's one particular channel which drives me nuts because it trails shows incessantly for a week before they're shown.
There *is* good tv here though - most of it is on PBS. Bruce Sprigsteen was right though - very often there'll be 57 channels (74 actually) and nothing on. Can't wait to get digital cable - I'll be able to get BBC America then

Here in New Zealand one of our channels broadcasts BBC World from 12 midnight through to 6am. Alas, it comes complete with commercial breaks - about 12 minutes an hour.

Loony - I'll look up your Dr. Who site when I've finished emptying the spare room of bookshelves (plus books) & a host of other stuff, so we can take the carpet up in readiness for another carpet & to get rid of dust before R begins painting!!! Oh what fun I do hope you're not too scathing about the old doc - I grew up watching him every Saturday early evening & then Dixon of Dock Green ('evning all)!!

Gosh - they've begun copying the Americans, again, here - same thing with the credits & advertising, mostly, the next programme. I've also noticed that the ad. breaks are getting longer & longer - used to be just long enough to put the kettle on & make it during the next break, now you grow the tea & make it!!!

I reckon the best way to watch TV is to get one of those recorders that cuts out the ads completely & watch everything in your own time!! Or, maybe, 4 recorders - 4 channels! Don't know when you'd be able to watch them though ..... unless they decide on a 48 hour day?

See you later.

PS - keep meaning to ask you both - how do your telephone systems work & how much (English if you can change rates!) do you pay rental, etc. I believe you get free local calls, but is the line rental expensive? I've been told by BT that they are trying to get to do the same thing, but at present they offer free local evening & weekend calls, but I think at quite a high rental - maybe you can tell me different?

PS - keep meaning to ask you both - how do your telephone systems work & how much (English if you can change rates!) do you pay rental, etc. I believe you get free local calls, but is the line rental expensive? I've been told by BT that they are trying to get to do the same thing, but at present they offer free local evening & weekend calls, but I think at quite a high rental - maybe you can tell me different?

NZ and Aus have different charging regimes.

Here in Godzone we have free local calls. We pay a monthly line charge of about 13 Brit pounds. On top of this I pay 10 pound a month for unlimited internet access. These are calendar months.

We pay extra for toll calls. These calls, thanks to competition, cost about 1/3 of what they did a few years ago. Special rates are often offered. For example, at the moment I can ring England, Ireland, USA or Australia and talk for as long as I like for a maximum charge of two pound. This special offer remains in force until the end of the year.

In a typical month my bill for phone, internet and call minder message service comes to roughly $NZ72. $NZ = 30p. About 24 pound.

Because I use Telecom New Zealand as my ISP I also qualify (free-of-charge) for a separate number (but not separate line) for my fax.

Cellphone charges are on top of this. Typically, about 25p a minute.

Thankfully, I rarely need to buy stamps.

Unfortunately in Oz we don't have free local calls (they do have them in Canada too by the way). At the moment we are with AAPT, and we pay 16.5 cents AUS for a local call and $15 per month (about 6 pounds) for phone rental. We also have fairly cheap long distance rates. For our deal, if we call on weeknights, anywhere in the country, it costs a maximum of $2 (about 70p). For overseas, we can talk to NZ, UK, USA, Canada, and Ireland for 17c per minute. A lot better than it used to be before we had competition. Sometimes, these are capped as well, if there is a special promotion on.

I hate to admit, but sometimes deregulation does makes sense.

Cheers
Bran.

Thanks for the phone info - just waiting for Gosh to come back.
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Meanwhile, just heard on the 11pm news: Douglas Adams died on Friday from a heart attack .

People have been leaving their condolences on DA's page.
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Only about a month ago, the chap that made the smiley a "thing" passed away too - he was much older, but had never made a penny from "inventing" the smiley.

Hi Shirps et al

The phone charges here are..... difficult to explain. Yes, local calls are free, but then there are also 'local' long distance (in-state), and just plain old long distance (beyond state lines). Local calls are only calls to your own 3 number area code. That means, for instance, that calls from 0171 in London to 0181, also in London, would not be local calls here, and would be charged. I don't pretend to understand any more than that because there are so many different call plans and schemes now, especially on mobile phones, which, incidentally, are priced very differently from UK mobile phones. Mobile phones here are treated as regular phones, so local rates apply - there are no seperate exchanges for mobile phones. If you have a mobile, it will be on your own local area code. However, most mobile service suppliers seem to offer free long distance... I don't know how they make any money! Then there are 10-10 numbers, like 10-10-220. You dial that before the number you're calling, and the chrge appears on your local service phone bill as long distance..... it's all very complicated.

Very sad about Douglas' passing

VERY sad about Douglas's death ... don't feel like saying much else at the moment.

Requiescat in pace.

Bran the Gloomy

Nods sagely

Not much to add that hasn't already been said. It would be nice if h2g2 became Douglas's memorial, and more people joined up to add to it.

I agree with that, I have told loads of people about the site already, but even though I explain clearly, they still think it's like a live chat room & they are scared "who they may meet"!! I shall still persevere. I lent my books some years back, they were never returned & I lost contact. However, I did buy the paperback version with all 4 stories in at the beginning of this year, with the intention of re-reading them & getting R to read them. I'm going to keep my eyes open for the original ones I bought in hardback. It's so annoying - I never lend to anyone, unless I know & trust them very well.

Thanks for all the phone info - it seems to me that everyone here in the UK thinks that other countries are more straightforward than ours. However, I think it is fair to say that it's confusing & complicated the world over!!!! Personally, I like the simple life

Chin up everyone, I'm sure Mr Adams wouldn't want us to wallow, but carry on with his good work.

LoL
Shirps

Think of your monthly phone bill as being similar to your weekly supermarket bill.

Fixed charges = bread
Internet access charges = butter
Add ons (call minder etc) = toilet paper
Tolls = chocolate biscuits

"Add ons" I would consider a luxury. Surely, toilet paper is an essential - unless you use something different?

But yes, I don't go out drinking every night (drink at home - ha!) so I can spend on the tel. instead & therefore budget for it, which I do (have to!) - I understand where you're coming from.

Paying monthly charges for "add-ons" makes me shitty.

I believe there should be one up-front charge when you decide to take the service with nothing more to pay. Once call minder etc are set up it doesn't cost the telco anything more to provide the service so why are there on-going charges?

I kindof asked for that reply didn't I?

I totally agree: do away with all the offers & different charges - one flat rate charge for all calls would SO simplify matters, especially for the elderly, like me - ha!

In some way it MUST make them more money - ... knows how!!

I thought that once satellites were in place things would be alot more unified - so what went wrong? Mankind's obsession with greed I suppose.

Sorry, had 2 & half pints & getting philosphical - crikey I spelt it right!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, you missed out an 'o' , but 2 1/2 pints will do that to you

Just testing the readers to see how much they'd got through!!!

No really, well done, I hadn't noticed!!!!

Following morning: carpet layer came to do the hall, stairs & landing; I was low-sugared all morning & had one awful headache. What caused the headache could have been the "banging" of the carpet layer or the low sugar or ......... don't tell me!! I've been told never to have that extra half again!!

Back to the vino